We can all afford to remove things from our lives that aren’t doing us any good. We make excuses for keeping these things around – we’re too busy, it takes too much time, we don’t know how, we’re scared, we’re not ready for change, etc.
The intensity of how these non-useful things affect our lives varies. If it’s something as simple as needing to clean up clutter in our house, that sits more toward the “annoyance, but not life threatening” end of the spectrum. But think about the more serious issues that could be doing harm in your life, such as a toxic relationship or unhealthy eating habits. Those issues are more toward the severe end of the spectrum and should not be ignored.
I wanted to talk about the topic of removing things that no longer belong in our lives because an experience I had the other day reminded me of two important factors that contribute to taking that important step forward:
- Moral support from someone you trust.
- Conquering indecisiveness or insecurity in order to make a change.
My example is much less severe than something negative that can cause harm in your life, but it helps me make my point, so hear me out.
My good friend Julie is a personal stylist who is working on developing a side business where she’ll come to your house, help you organize your wardrobe and show you how to create new outfits. I was her test subject recently (tough job for me, right?).
As we started sorting through my clothes, she was putting way more clothes in the “no” pile than I had expected. I had two closets full of clothes (mind you, my house was built in 1925 and all the closets are crazy small) and I had recently sorted through both and removed several articles, so I thought I was in decent shape.
As the “no” pile grew larger and I started questioning Julie’s reasoning, she asked me to tell her how often I wore those articles of clothing and if I even liked how they looked on me anymore. The vast majority I had worn maybe once in the past year or two, and once I tried them on, I was reminded why I hadn’t been wearing them. My style had changed in the past few years, and even though I knew my taste no longer matched several of the clothes hanging in my closet, I had somehow talked myself into keeping them.
Julie’s approach was simple: She told me that if I absolutely didn’t love it anymore, it had to go.
Going back to my two bullet points above, I was finally able to let go of all those clothes because Julie gave me the push/motivation I needed and she wouldn’t let me be indecisive. Either I loved it, or I didn’t. And if I had the slightest doubt as to whether the article of clothing deserved to hang among the elite, then into the “no” pile it went.
Maybe you’re like me and you need to get rid of things in your house that are no longer useful to you. Maybe you have a bad habit you need to kick that’s taking a negative toll on your life. Maybe you have a friendship or relationship that somewhere down the line turned sour, yet you ignore what happened and force yourself to believe that person still makes you happy.
Whatever it is, we can all find at least one thing in our life that needs to be removed. Even if it only makes a small improvement, it’s worth it.
If you know what you need to remove or change and are having trouble getting started, find a friend or family member who can give you the guidance and support you need and commit to overcoming indecisiveness. How can you ever expect to add new, positive, happy and fulfilling things to your life if you continue hanging on to the unnecessary, or worse, damaging? You can’t. I’ve talked before about how change is all about perseverance. Doubt doesn’t work into that equation.
Do you agree? Do you have any other ways to successfully remove unnecessary or negative things from your life?